That's Cuckoo Bananas *Updated 9/21 Complete*

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

The animation class is great! It can be frustrating when you are little and can't draw as well as the professional. (or as a adult, ha!)

I hope you guys liked the festival. I think alot of folks like it since it isn't as crowded as food and wine.

 

[ashw100]

Ii am just glad I am not the only one that wants to try things I see on tv shows! (And the things I learn from HGTV!) And I am with on mushrooms (and beets)...always feel like I am eating dirt.

Love the pictures!

I can't do Mission Space at all anymore. I used to have no problem with it even before they gave you an option. Then one time I went on it and had to sit and wait for the crew while they did a few things and I could just rest. So not worth it to me anymore.

When I win the lottery I will make it down for Festival of the Arts...I can't as long as I am in the current industry that I am in as there is no vacation time between 1/2 and 3/15, and we do not get federal holidays off either, so not even a long weekend trip for me!

Can't wait to read more!

I hope you can make it down sometime, it really is a fun festival.

The animation class is great! It can be frustrating when you are little and can't draw as well as the professional. (or as a adult, ha!)

I hope you guys liked the festival. I think alot of folks like it since it isn't as crowded as food and wine.

I like it much more than Food and Wine, Flower and Garden is still my fave though.

 

[ashw100]

Searching for Figment

We made our way over to Morocco to try the Mediterranean flatbread and orange cake from Mosaic Canteen.

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The flatbread had all of my favorite things on it, artichoke, sun-dried tomatoes, red pepper, yum! I loved it and thankfully no one else did so I got to enjoy most of it. The portion is really big here compared to other booths, so it’s a good value too. The orange cake I wasn’t a fan of, but Joe and the boys devoured it.

We wanted to check out the pavilion next, the boys still haven’t had a ton of time in the World Showcase, so they’d never really explored this pavilion.

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We stopped at the Race Against the Sun exhibit, I didn’t even know this was here. It is kind of tucked away, but I am glad we stopped.

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We were on the hunt for Figment, but I just love this pavilion so much. It really feels authentic to me. It reminds me a lot of my favorite parts of the Africa and Asia parts of Animal Kingdom. For a moment you can just feel like you are actually in another part of the world. As opposed to the other pavilions, which merely feel like recreations.

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The Figment was really tucked away here, but we eventually found him.

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We found Abu too.

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We made our way into France where we got our biggest food haul yet at L’Art de la Cuisine Francaise.

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Every part of this feast was amazing. We got the crème de brie en petit pain, Moelleux a la Framboise et aux chocolats Valrhona and the frozen French martini. I wouldn’t say they were particularly ground breaking choices, melted cheese and bread and lava cake, but man were they so good. As we were enjoying our food, we saw another princess cavalcade.

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I really wanted to check out the France show, but our timing lined up with the Beauty and the Beast sing-a-long, we opted to skip that. We found Figment as we explored the pavilion.

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The area back by the Ratatouille ride has just opened, so went to explore back there too.

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We stopped in the UK, the boys wanted to do the maze. I think Alice was back there too, but I have no photographs to prove it. They had also moved the paintings that typically accompany the characters at their meet and greet locations during non-Covid Festival of the Arts time.

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As we were searching for the Figment here, I noticed some more characters painted here. I had never noticed them before.

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Figment was difficult here, so we asked a CM for a hint. It was tricky, but they found him.

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I really wanted to check out the World Showplace pavilion, since I had never been in it before.

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The Art Defying Gravity show was going on when we entered, so the boys found a place on the carpet to watch.

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We didn’t stay long, but it was a nice break for us. We spotted some amazing (and expensive) rocking horses on the way out. Joe loved the Chicago Bears one.

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We came to Canada finally. It was a little sad because we were supposed to see these gardens in real life last summer, but we enjoyed the Epcot version all the same.

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We found a rabbit in the garden, which of course N insisted on getting a picture of.

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We also found another Figment.

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Since we were back by the movie, we decided to stay and watch. The boys haven’t seen any of the movies, so it was new to them. N plopped right on the floor again. Even before we were in a global pandemic, I didn’t love my kids sitting on the nasty floors, but we just bathed in sanitizer afterward.

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We headed back to Future World to do some more rides. Now that it was considerably later, it had really cleared out and practically everything was a walk on. But first, we spotted Joy out meeting.

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I asked the boys to turn around for a picture and this is what I got.

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Now, I can see everyone

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[kclark9830]

Joy is so cute! We've never been in the showplace Pavillion. I do remember on our first trip we walked by the gates there. It stood out to me because Pooh and Stitch were there meeting guests. I remember trying to get my kids to stop with no luck . oh well, random memory, LOL!

 

[rdkeim]

A good day so far in Epcot! I don't know how you manage to get so much done with 3 kids in tow. All your food choices look so good. Especially the cakes! In May 2020 we were supposed to celebrate our 40th anniversary in Butchart Gardens :-( So, until I get there, I stop in Disney's Canada. I still don't think it's possible to travel there - crazy.

 

[ashw100]

Joy is so cute! We've never been in the showplace Pavillion. I do remember on our first trip we walked by the gates there. It stood out to me because Pooh and Stitch were there meeting guests. I remember trying to get my kids to stop with no luck . oh well, random memory, LOL!

Yeah, they used to do the CM training there a pop-up meet and greets similar to Chatacterpalooza. I never experienced it, but it sounds cool.

A good day so far in Epcot! I don't know how you manage to get so much done with 3 kids in tow. All your food choices look so good. Especially the cakes! In May 2020 we were supposed to celebrate our 40th anniversary in Butchart Gardens :-( So, until I get there, I stop in Disney's Canada. I still don't think it's possible to travel there - crazy.

Actually, I saw an article about Canada opening to vaccinated guests soon, so it's coming around. Hopefully you can get there for real soon. My parents live in Seattle, so I know we'll get there eventually.

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

Since we were back by the movie, we decided to stay and watch. The boys haven’t seen any of the movies, so it was new to them. N plopped right on the floor again. Even before we were in a global pandemic, I didn’t love my kids sitting on the nasty floors, but we just bathed in sanitizer afterward.

It's hard with kids. They are kids and do kid things... Once Gwen licked a railing in Rockfeller Center in NYC. I looked over and it was already too late! She survied to tell the tail, thankfully! oye! (this was prepandemic and a while ago but still gross!)

I kind of love these meets...

Doing those searches is a great way to really explore some of the pavillions!

All of your photos make me excitied for Festival of the Arts next year!!! (when we FINALLY get to go again).

 

[ashw100]

It's hard with kids. They are kids and do kid things... Once Gwen licked a railing in Rockfeller Center in NYC. I looked over and it was already too late! She survied to tell the tail, thankfully! oye! (this was prepandemic and a while ago but still gross!)

Kids are gross

I kind of love these meets...

I do too, they are very low pressure if you have someone shy in your group like J.

Doing those searches is a great way to really explore some of the pavillions!

All of your photos make me excitied for Festival of the Arts next year!!! (when we FINALLY get to go again).

I agree, we had so much fun exploring. I'm so happy you get to go, we really enjoyed it this year.

 

[ashw100]

Don't Get Distracted

Having gotten our dose of joy from Joy, we decided to head on Figment next.

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Our next destination was the Land pavilion. We went on Living with the Land first. I noticed that they finally turned the Mickey hose around to face guests on the ride. I never understood why it was facing the other way in the first place.

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The boys were very excited to find this hidden Minnie.

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The hanging pumpkins are so cool. I wouldn't jump out of the boat to get them, but you know

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We rode Soarin and then made our way to the Seas Pavilion to ride Nemo.

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Poor demolished Innoventions.

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I promised the boys we could do some pin trading so we had to head back to the front of the park. We also needed check out the “new” old fountain.

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So pretty, my only regret is not getting to see it at night. We stopped for some photopass pictures.

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Silly one

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Selfie time

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The actual selfie we took

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The boys did their pin trading right outside the pin store. We had completed all there is to do in Future World, so it was time to head back to the World Showcase and find the rest of the Figments.

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We headed in to Mexico and stopped at El Artista Hambriento for the pork belly pastor.

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It was a little too fatty for me, but Joe enjoyed it. Time was getting away from us and we still had so many Figments left to find. J had to go to the restroom, Joe took him while I got in line to enter the Mexico Pavilion.

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We had to wait about 15 minutes to get in and then another 15 to get on the ride. We found another hidden Mickey on The Three Caballeros.

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We were the next boat to disembark and then we got stuck. It is so frustrating to being so close, yet so far. We were held there for about 10 minutes before we got moving again.

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We found Figment, grabbed our kidcot stuff, and headed out.

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Apparently Joe had been texting us to hurry so we could see Anna. By the time we got to Norway she had gone in for the night. We rode Frozen Ever After, finishing up our final ride at Epcot, and found Figment in the dump shop.

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Our day in the park was quickly coming to a close, but we needed to find the last Figment in China. We search all around and couldn’t find it. We went in the gift shop and N squealed in delight at all the pandas. He quickly reminded himself, "no time to get distracted, must find the last Figment." We asked a CM, but even she didn’t know. We finally found him tucked away across from the QS in China.

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We stopped for one final PP picture in an empty Morocco.

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We hadn’t had a substantial meal all day, but there wasn’t time to eat a meal before the park closed. So we did what all great parents do and let the kids pick a dessert to eat before we headed out. I went with a crepe in France, J really wanted a second serving of the bread brie bowl from the food booth, and Joe, C, and N got ice cream from Le Artisan de Glace.

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After our treats, we waited in a very long line to get on the Skyliner, we ordered some food at Landscape of Flavors, and promptly passed out in our beds.

 

[ashw100]

Goodbyes

The day we all dread dawned bright and early. We got ourselves packed and ready to go. We grabbed another round of kid’s character waffles for breakfast, and finished up the last of our souvenir shopping. We let the boys play around in the boneyard section before finally saying goodbye to Art of Animation.

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Our trip to the airport was uneventful. We dropped off the rental car and breezed through security. We grabbed lunch and then settled in to wait for our flight.

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We made it home without incident, it was the perfect travel home day.


We had an absolutely amazing trip. We were able to get more things done than we would normally do in a trip twice as long. We got to do so many things that we’ve never had time for like the scavenger hunt and mini golf. It was by far the most enjoyable trip we’ve ever had. While I am glad to be coming to an end of all the COVID stuff, the three trips I got to take during this time were amazing, I am a little sad I’ll never get to experience the parks like that again. I won’t miss masks though.

Speaking of three trips, I am going to tack on another short trip we took right on to this trip report, so stayed tuned.

 

[ashw100]

A Letter From Hogwarts

About a month after we got back from our February trip I got an email from work about a possible opportunity to travel to Universal. If course I wanted to go, but how could I make it work? We had just gone to Disney, which was already a lot considering we are trying to save for Hawaii. Plus Joe and the boys couldn’t miss more work/school. But on the other hand you don’t turn down an almost free trip either, right? The dates happened to coincide with dates my mom was supposed to be visiting for her spring break. She agreed to watch the boys for me. It was a work trip, and I was supposed to be gathering research, but I also didn’t really want to go alone. I had a lightbulb idea, C’s birthday was just a week before the trip, his 11th birthday to be exact. If you are a Harry Potter fan (like C or myself) you will know that the 11th birthday is a pretty big one in the wizarding world. I talked it over with Joe, and we agreed we could make it happen. C is an honor roll student and doing virtual school, a few more days missed wouldn’t be the end of the world. With the plan in motion, all I had to do was wait. First I had to wait for confirmation that I would actually get to go on the trip. I didn’t have that until 2 weeks before travel. It was stressful, but I got all my ducks in a row while I waited. If you know me, you know it’s impossible for me to be in Orlando and not go to Disney, so we of course added on one day at Magic Kingdom.

I decided to wait until his birthday to tell him. The day his birthday arrived, I was so excited. I knew he was going to love the surprise. We had him open his gifts and cards from everyone else and the surprise was supposed to be the last thing. Well my sister-in-law wrote in his card, "have fun at Universal."

Well there goes my surprise. We brought out his letter that had arrived via owl post.

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I got the letter on Etsy, here is a close up.

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About two weeks before the trip, once it was official, I decided I was going to try and re-read all seven books before the trip. It was a lofty goal to be sure. In that two weeks, on top of normal work and household responsibilities, we celebrated Easter, C’s birthday, and had out of town guests, which distracted me from my goal. We had a late flight out on travel day which gave me enough time to finish up the seventh book and watch Deathly Hallows Part 1. I was also exhausted and just trying to stay awake so I could get a good night’s sleep once we got to Orlando. Joe had picked us up some Chipotle, our usual pre-trip dinner. Joe and the boys drove us to the airport and we were on our way. Getting through baggage drop and security was easy. The airport was really dead. It was 7:00 and most places were already closed for the night. I am so glad we had dinner at home.

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Even though we had just flown out of Love Field two months prior, there was a new Amazon store there. It was one of those stores where you just walked in and grabbed what you want and then walked out and your account was automatically charged. I wasn’t sure if you needed to set something up beforehand (I do have Prime), so I didn’t both trying to use it. Still cool though.

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When we were told to line up for boarding, I could already see this was going to be a very different trip from the last two. No longer were they pretending to have us social distance, it was just jam all 60 A boarding groups in one tight little area. As a reminder, this trip took place in the beginning of April. Before most people were even able to get two doses of the vaccine and way before places started dropping mandates. We boarded and were told that it was not a full flight. C and I put on our best mean faces so no one would want to sit with us.

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Our mean mugging worked, because we had the row to ourselves. We set ourselves to sanitizing our row.

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I had downloaded Deathly Hallows Part 2 for C and I to watch.

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We enjoyed our movie and the drinks and snacks provided. The flight went by quickly. We landed early, which is always nice.

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Our bags came out quickly as well. It was late and we had an early morning the next day, so to be ahead of schedule felt good. The line at the rental counter was long, but I just used the little kiosk and was done in minutes. We rented a compact car from Alamo, and after a few minutes acquainting myself with the car, we were off. The line to get out of the rental car area was super long, but moving. When we were five cars back, our line just stopped moving. The line next to us, also stopped moving. The third line however, kept going as normal. It was so strange and very frustrating. One man got so angry he started honking over and over, as if that was going to get us moving. He actually got out of his car and started walking toward the booths. I was worried we were about to witness a brawl, but the employee talked to him and he got back in his car without incident. After about 15 minutes of not moving at all, they were slowly able to let cars trickle through. All in all it took about 30 minutes to get out, and we were definitely ready to get to the hotel and get some sleep.

The best picture of the sign I could get

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We didn’t let our delay put a hamper on the start to our trip, we belted Hamilton and were in very high spirits when we got to our hotel.

Since we were only going to be there for two nights and were trying to save money, we opted for an offsite hotel. I chose the SpringHill Suites at Flamingo Crossing. It was about 2 miles outside property, past Animal Kingdom. When we got to the hotel, I noticed a flashing light on the outside of the building and I could see similar flashing in the windows. I assumed a fire alarm was going off, but there were no people outside. I drove around looking for a parking spot and there was none to be seen. I finally circle all the way around to the front of the building and now I see some people standing outside. I went into the lobby and there were no employees, only a guest who informed me there was a fire and everyone had to be evacuated. By the time I got back to my car the parking lot was covered in people. Not knowing how long it was going to take to take care of the mess, I decided to try and find another hotel. The one next door was booked, but the Marriott hotel over near Disney Springs (the complete opposite side of property BTW) had openings. I called Disney to try and see if I could get a hotel at All Star Movies. They wouldn’t allow me to book online even though I could see rooms available, it was requiring me to see proof of Florida residency. The CM on the phone couldn’t help me but they took my number and told me someone from ASM would call me back. It was about 12:30 at this point and my seven hours of sleep in two days was really starting to catch up with me. I couldn’t think straight, I just knew I needed to get some sleep and fast. Not wanting to wait on Disney I drove to the Marriott properties near Disney Springs. For three hotels they only had one lobby open and the line was 10 parties deep. Not to mention they had a security guard posted at the entrance, which didn’t exactly give me confidence. I got in line but decided to call my original hotel to see what the status was there. The front desk told me the hotel was just cleared and I could come check in. So we dragged out exhausted bodies back to our car and drove back across property to check into our hotel. I asked C what he wanted to do about going to MK in the morning. He asked that we still go as early as physically possible, so we got into bed. C drifted right off to dreamland and I wish I could end this travel day post here, but sadly I cannot.

I was so frazzled and activated by the events of the evening, even though I was exhausted, I could not quiet my mind enough to fall asleep. It was one of those situations where I kept think, “If I fall asleep now I will get 5 hours of sleep” And on and on it went. I didn’t fall asleep until 4:00 in the morning.

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[cajunfan]

Yikes! That is not a good start to your trip! I sure hope it gets better!

 

[rdkeim]

I'm so stressed reading your last post - yikes! What an ordeal. And so late at night makes it even worse. My mind would have been counting down the sleep hours too - I had to laugh when I read that. Miserable. But, I hope your MK day was wonderful!

 

[disneyAndi14]

I really enjoy reading your TRIP Reports. I love how you are starting to travel with each boy. Reminds me of all my wonderful trips with my daughter.
How on earth could you read 7 books with 3 boys lol
I‘m so sorry about all the stress of getting to your room and in your room, ugh!
I feel your pain with very little sleep. I can’t count how many times I have done the same, telling myself if I fall asleep now etc….
I love how you planned the Hogwarts letter on your son’s 11th Birthday, so fun!

 

[ashw100]

Yikes! That is not a good start to your trip! I sure hope it gets better!

It does...eventually

I'm so stressed reading your last post - yikes! What an ordeal. And so late at night makes it even worse. My mind would have been counting down the sleep hours too - I had to laugh when I read that. Miserable. But, I hope your MK day was wonderful!

It was by far one of the worst travel days I've had and it put our trip off to a bad start, but we recovered.

I really enjoy reading your TRIP Reports. I love how you are starting to travel with each boy. Reminds me of all my wonderful trips with my daughter.
How on earth could you read 7 books with 3 boys lol
I‘m so sorry about all the stress of getting to your room and in your room, ugh!
I feel your pain with very little sleep. I can’t count how many times I have done the same, telling myself if I fall asleep now etc….
I love how you planned the Hogwarts letter on your son’s 11th Birthday, so fun!

I love getting to travel with each one. I know N is itching for his trip, but he needs to mature a tad more. Thankfully the boys were in school, leaving plenty of reading time, there's no way I could pull that off in the summer.

 

[ashw100]

Dead Tired

I wish I could tell you, I was able to get a full night’s sleep and woke up feeling rested and ready to take on the day. Instead, I woke up at 6, after just 2 hours of sleep. I had had a really hard time sleeping in the days leading up to the trip, so this upped my total sleep across three nights, to 9 hours of sleep. Exhausted doesn’t even begin to cover how I felt. My body just did not want to sleep and I wasn’t going to let that keep me from having a great day. So even though I felt physically not great, I was going to make the best of it. I let C sleep for another hour and then got him up. We stopped at the breakfast area and picked up some muffins and fruit for the road. The entrance to property from this road had been updated, so I grabbed a quick picture.

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The park opened at 9 and we got to the parking lot at 8, a little later than I normally would want to get there, but I was just thankful we were there at all. The line for the monorail was long, but we were able to walk right on the ferry.

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We entered the park at 8:45 and I was so happy to be home again.

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Per our usual touring plan, we rode Jungle Cruise first.

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We noticed some changes from the last time we had ridden. No gorilla in the camp.

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Last time we’ll see these guys.

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Trader Sam was already gone

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Our next ride was on Pirates.

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I love Adventureland/Frontierland in the morning. It’s always so empty.

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Next we were headed on Splash. Each time I’ve ridden this since COVID, I have thought it would be my last time, but here I was riding again.

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We’re gonna get wet.

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We got stuck here for a few minutes and the family in the log behind us was freaking out. I tried to calm them, but they weren’t happy.

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After our big splash, we went to get in line for BTMRR which actually started at the entrance to the Splash queue. It was about here that I realized social distancing wasn’t a thing anymore. On past trips we had very few people who didn’t adhere to the markings. Typically a quick glance back and thy got the hint and then stayed on their line. Not this time, no dirty glancing back kept people away from us, all day long. I don’t get it, of all the COVID restrictions to push back on, social distancing seems like the easiest one to comply with. Even before we were living through a global pandemic I didn’t want people close to me .

The wait for BTMRR was only 15 minutes, despite the big line.

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The skies were getting darker and a chill had set in the air, a perfect time to ride Haunted Mansion.

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It was actually getting pretty cold out. Of course I hadn’t packed anything warm to wear. My cardigan that I wore on the plane was at the hotel. I contemplated buying a sweatshirt, but I already have so many of them at home. I technically wasn’t supposed to wear Disney stuff while I was at Universal, so I would literally just be buying for this one day. I hoped I could hold out.

We got in line for Peter Pan’s Flight. The extended queue is in Columbia Harbor House, I don’t think that’s supposed to be there.

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The ride paused for just a second and I was actually able to get a clear picture.

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After Peter Pan, we were on the hunt for a yummy snack.

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[rdkeim]

You're a trooper to press on despite the lack of sleep. I'm impressed you were able to get to the park before opening. Hope the weather didn't take a turn - you deserved a nice weather day!

 

[ashw100]

You're a trooper to press on despite the lack of sleep. I'm impressed you were able to get to the park before opening. Hope the weather didn't take a turn - you deserved a nice weather day!

Thanks, nothing gets in the way of me and my Disney, but the lack of sleep certainly tried.

 

[ashw100]

Dashing Through the Rain

We decided to walk through the castle. We were in search of a yummy snack and I knew they had stands in the hub.

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New bunting since the last time we visited.

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We grabbed and pretzel and churro to split. We sat in the hub to enjoy our food and call the boys.

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We had to cut our call short, because I heard a beautiful quartet of music.

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One more picture of the gorgeous castle

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Before we could leave the hub, we heard more music.

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I actually really liked how they brought back these entertainment offerings, they are quick, but I like that. We headed into Fantasyland for some more rides.

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It was time to head into Fnatasyland and get some rides done there.

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We chose to ride Winnie the Pooh, y’all remember when kids used to touched all over this wall?

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After Pooh, we were headed to Little Mermaid. We spotted a PP out, so we decided to stop for our first maskless park pictures.

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It felt good to take off the mask, but weird too. We then rode Little Mermaid.

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When we got off the ride the skies had opened up. We had really picked the wrong place to be when the rain started. There is absolutely no cover back there. Without a real plan in mind, we donned our ponchos and ran over to Tomorrowland. We tried to walk under the peoplemover, and it helped a little. I figured we should try CoP, we could get out of the rain, and it would give me some time to think.

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We had a wait a few cycles to get on, but we were mostly out of the rain during that time. Once we were able to get on the attraction, I did something I have never done before. I reclined and closed my eyes. I can't really sleep in public, but even just the ability to relax and close my eyes helped a lot. When we got off the ride, the rain had not let up. Every available covered space was jammed packed with people, say goodbye to social distancing. Of course there was no where to really eat either, so that wasn’t an option. I just didn’t see the point trying to stay. I was starving, tired, cold and wet. I try to be someone who will push through and make the best of a situation, but I just couldn’t do it in this situation.

Thankfully, most of the path through Tomorrowland and Main Street is covered, so we were able to avoid the worst of it. The ferry was down, so we dashed to the monorail. We just barely made it under the awning, but it was PACKED. I haven’t been in a crowd like this since before the pandemic, wall to wall bodies. I didn’t love it, but I was beyond the point of caring. Shortly after we got in line a CM announced that due to lightening the monorail would be stopping service. No monorail, no ferry, but they would provide buses back to the TTC. We dashed once more, this time to the buses, only to find that there were no buses. There were also no CMs around to direct anyone and now there were 100’s of guests with no where to go. It was an absolute mess. To think it had been raining and thunder and lightning for almost an hour at this point and they still hadn’t figured out what to do with all the stranded guests. We got in line for bus that wasn’t labeled and just hoped a bus would pick us up.

After a 20 minute wait, we were on the bus.

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We sloshed back to our car and then decided lunch at the McDonalds would have to do. Of course the line for the McDonalds took 30 minutes, because apparently nothing could be easy that day. We drove back to the hotel and I attempted to take a nap. Again, my mind just couldn’t relax enough to drift off to the sleep. The rain had slowed to slightly less than torrential downpour, so we decided to head back out.

 

[kclark9830]

I hate you had such a hard time sleeping, and the rain and buses.

But I love the dress you're wearing in the picture at the LMM ride!